JP2018135095A - Occupant protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow even a vehicle whose width is narrow to incline quickly the upper body of an occupant with an inexpensive configuration.SOLUTION: The occupant protection device is configured so that when side collision detecting means detects a side collision, a side airbag 6 is expanded to turn the upper body of an occupant M while lifting up an arm near a door of the occupant M between the armpit near the door of the occupant M and the door. This can effectively turn and incline the upper body of the occupant M, and allows even a light vehicle whose width is narrow to form a sufficient space between the occupant M and the door at the side collision. Therefore, by filling the space with the side airbag 6 and filling the space with a curtain airbag provided separately, the occupant can be protected surely.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention provides a side collision detection means provided on a vehicle for detecting a side collision of another vehicle, and deployed on a passenger's door side when a side collision is detected by the side collision detection means embedded in a seat back of a seat. The present invention relates to an occupant protection device including a side airbag.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device for protecting an occupant when a vehicle collides forward, there is a pretensioner that pulls in a seat belt instantaneously and suppresses forward movement of the occupant when a collision is detected by a detection unit that detects the collision. . Furthermore, in recent years, a side airbag that is embedded in the seat back and that is deployed between the occupant and the door during a side collision has been installed as a means to reduce occupant injury during a side collision (hereinafter referred to as a side collision). Vehicles are also being developed.

  By the way, even in the case of a vehicle having both a pretensioner and a side airbag as described above, when the vehicle width is narrow like a light vehicle, the space between the occupant and the door is smaller than that of a small vehicle other than the light vehicle. Since the deployment space of the side airbag in the vehicle becomes small, it is necessary to control the side airbag to be deployed more quickly before the door is deformed and the space is narrowed. A sensor for sensing detection for collision detection must be added, which increases the cost.

  On the other hand, in order to improve the deployment performance of the side airbag without providing the above-mentioned high output inflator or adding sensors, for example, a bottom airbag is embedded at a position from the door of the seat cushion, The bottom airbag is deployed before the side airbag, and the upper part of the occupant's door is pushed up to tilt the occupant's upper body to the opposite side of the door. It has been proposed to secure enough space for deployment (Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-9798 A (see abstract, paragraphs 0012 to 0013 and FIGS. 1 and 2)

  However, in the case of the above-described Patent Document 1, if the vehicle is equipped with a pretensioner function, the deployment force of the bottom airbag is an emergency that only pushes up the occupant's buttocks against the restraint force of the pretensioner. Therefore, there is a problem that the cost of the bottom airbag is increased and it is not preferable as a method of tilting the upper body of the occupant.

  An object of the present invention is to make it possible to quickly tilt an occupant's upper body at the time of a side collision even with a vehicle having a narrow vehicle width by an inexpensive configuration.

  In order to achieve the above object, an occupant protection device according to the present invention includes a side collision detection unit that is provided in a vehicle and detects a side collision of another vehicle, and a side collision detected by the side collision detection unit that is embedded in a seat back of a seat. An occupant protection device including a side airbag that deploys to the occupant's door when the side collision is detected by the side collision detection means. The arm is lifted between the armpit on the door side of the occupant and the door so as to rotate the upper body of the occupant while lifting the arm.

  According to the present invention, when a side collision is detected by the side collision detection means, the occupant's upper body is rotated while lifting the occupant's door-side arm between the occupant's door-side armpit and the door. Because the side airbag is deployed, the upper body of the occupant can be rotated and tilted more effectively, creating a sufficient gap between the occupant and the door during a side collision, even in a light vehicle with a narrow vehicle width. The occupant can be more reliably protected by filling the gap with a side airbag or filling the gap with a separately provided curtain airbag.

It is a top view of one embodiment of a crew member protection device concerning the present invention. It is a side view of FIG. It is a block diagram of the control system of FIG.

  An embodiment in which an occupant protection device according to the present invention is applied to a driver's seat will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In the present embodiment, front and rear, up and down, and left and right mean front and rear, up and down, and left and right as viewed in a seated state.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the driver's seat 1 in the present embodiment includes a seat cushion 2 made of a pad such as a seat cushion frame and urethane, a seat back 3 made up of a seat back frame and a pad such as urethane, and a seat back 3. And a headrest 4 attached to the head. A retractor for retracting the seat belt or a buckle anchor is provided with a pretensioner having a known configuration that pulls in the seat belt instantaneously and prevents the occupant M from moving forward when a forward collision is detected.

  Further, the side airbag 6 is embedded in a folded state in the door side end portion of the left and right ends of the seat back 3, and the inflator is controlled to be ignited when the side collision occurs, so that the side airbag 6 is hatched by the occupant M. It expands toward the front between the door D.

  At this time, as shown by a one-dot chain line in FIGS. 1 and 2, the side airbag 6 has a general deployment width in which a narrow gap between the hatch of the occupant M and the door D is deployed straight forward. As shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 as compared with the small conventional configuration, the unfolding that unfolds so that the upper arm is slightly lifted from the right shoulder of the occupant M (see the solid arrow in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). It is desirable to form in a shape that is wide and develops obliquely upward. In addition, P in FIG. 1 is a center pillar.

  By the way, the block configuration of the control system of the present embodiment is as shown in FIG. That is, a collision detection unit 11 including an acceleration (G) sensor that detects a frontal collision of the host vehicle, a side collision detection unit 12 including an acceleration (G) sensor that detects a side collision of another vehicle, and the pretensioner 13 described above. And the side airbag device 14 including the side airbag 6 and the inflator described above, and the pretensioner 13 is operated when a forward collision detection signal from the collision detection means 11 is input. A microcomputer configured control means 16 for operating the side airbag device 14 when a side collision detection signal is input and outputting a holding control signal to the holding means 15 to hold the pretensioner 13 in an inoperative state; I have.

  Then, when a forward collision is detected by the collision detection means 11, the detection signal is input to the control means 16, the pretensioner 13 is controlled to be in an operating state by the control means 16, and the seat belt is pulled in instantly, and the occupant M Is prevented from moving forward.

  On the other hand, when a side collision is detected by the side collision detection means 12, the detection signal is input to the control means 16, and a holding control signal is output from the control means 16 to the holding means 15, so that the pretensioner 13 is deactivated. The seat belt is loosened, the restraining force of the occupant M is weakened, and the upper body of the occupant M can be tilted. Further, the inflator of the side airbag device 14 is controlled to be ignited by the control means 16 so that the side airbag 6 is inflated, and the door side arm of the occupant M is placed between the starboard side on the door D side of the occupant M and the door D. The side airbag 6 is deployed so that the upper body is rotated in the opposite direction to the door D while lifting the upper portion, and the upper body of the occupant M rotates as the side airbag 6 is deployed. While a sufficient gap is formed between the gaps, the gap is filled with the side airbag 6 to protect the occupant M from a side impact.

  Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, when a side collision is detected by the side collision detection means 12, the pretensioner 13 is held in an inoperative state and the seat belt is loosened so as to relax the upper body restraint of the occupant M. Since the holding means 15 is provided, the pretensioner 13 is held in an inoperative state by the holding means 15 at the time of a side collision, the seat belt is loosened, and the restraining force of the occupant M by the seat belt is weakened. It is no longer necessary to provide a high-power inflator, add sensors, or provide an expensive bottom airbag with a large deployment force, and it is possible to tilt the upper body of the occupant M with an inexpensive configuration Can be easily formed.

  Further, when the side collision is detected by the side collision detection means 12 and the pretensioner 13 is held in the non-operating state by the holding means 15, the occupant is located between the armpit on the door D side of the occupant M and the door D. Since the side airbag 6 is deployed so that the upper body rotates to the opposite side of the door D while lifting the M door side arm, the upper body of the occupant M can be more effectively rotated and tilted, and the vehicle width is increased. Even in a small mini vehicle, a sufficient gap can be formed between the occupant M and the door D at the time of a side collision, and the occupant M is protected from the impact of the side collision by filling the gap with the side airbag 6. can do.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the gap between the occupant M and the door D is filled by deploying the side airbag 6 at the time of a side collision has been described. A bag is further provided, and after the gap is formed between the occupant M and the door D by the deployment of the side airbag 6, the curtain airbag is deployed at a predetermined time difference to fill the gap and reliably protect the occupant M. You may make it do.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the present invention is applied to the driver's seat 1 has been described, but it is needless to say that the present invention can also be applied to a passenger seat or a rear seat.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Seat 3 ... Seat back 6 ... Side airbag 11 ... Collision detection means 12 ... Side collision detection means 13 ... Pretensioner 15 ... Holding means M ... Passenger D ... Door

Claims (1)

A side collision detection unit that is provided in the vehicle and detects a side collision of another vehicle; a side airbag that is embedded in a seat back of a seat and that is deployed to a passenger's door when the side collision detection is detected by the side collision detection unit; In an occupant protection device comprising:
When the side collision detection means detects a side collision, the side airbag is positioned between the armpit on the passenger's door side and the door so as to rotate the upper body of the passenger while lifting the passenger's door side arm. An occupant protection device that is developed to

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